On the road in Oregon

This woman kissed Selah about 10 times. Searching the tide pools at Cannon Beach. Eating oatmeal at the Astoria Coffee House. One of many playgrounds along the bike route. Here we were at um... Big Eddy County Park, somewhere in the lovely forests of Oregon. Huge logging trucks passed us relentlessly. Exploring a century-old shipwreck on the beach at Fort Stevens State Park. No fashionable lady ever received as many comments about her shoes as Selah did about those green boots.

Visiting the Browns

We stayed with our dear friends, Jason and Melanie (whom we've known since college and traveled with in Korea), for a few days in Eugene. "Hen" and Shepherd kept Selah laughing hysterically. At the Pizza Parlor padded playland. The kids could pretty much bounce off the walls if they needed to.

Sunflowers

The Colors of Summer

Here's what I've been up to lately

Picking Fresh tomatoes.Plenty of tomatoes. Spending an evening at the Shapiro's.Trying out Baby McDaniel's new nursery. Sunflower seed harvesting. Eating fresh garden salads with sweet beets. Sushi with the Baca's. Lots of rock climbing. Chalk paths (thanks Kate) with between 5 and 100 mph speed limits, and passing lanes.

Grandma and Papa in Phoenix

Spring Break Places to See

Faraway Ranch. Bonita Creek. Fort Bowie Ruins. Cochise' Stronghold. Hrmph? Vrst? Oost! Eest! Walking in Rhyolite Canyon, in Chiricahua Nat'l Monument.

Jason, Callie, and Vincent Hanson (7), from Kansas City visited us for the President's Day weekend. If I haven't explained, Callie and I became dear friends about 17 years ago as children. We lost touch for over a decade. We've been back in touch and getting together as often as possible for almost the last two years, in wonderfully random cities. San Francisco, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Lake Vermilion, Hayward, and now Phoenix.

Selah wanted to do everything Vincent did, and be everywhere Vincent went. So fun to have a constant friend.

Bianka's 8th Birthday

Our wonderful neighbors celebrated their youngest daughter's 8th birthday on Sunday. There was a brinca-brinca ("jumpy-jumpy"), loud music, three pinata's, loads and loads of homemade food, cake, cupcakes, fruit cups, juices, sodas, and a selection of beer and tequila (mainly for the men who sat like true patriarchs watching the party), and all this on a Sunday evening before school. I think there were at least sixty people there. I asked Ana how many parties they went to every week, considering the number of people in their family. She said it was their fifth party that weekend.

Hiking at Dreamy Draw

Finally, Good Weather

After endless disgusting hot summer months and then a very wintery cold December, we have finally made it to.... the reason we live in Phoenix. For us, this fair weather inspires long bike rides with good friends. Today it was with the Shapiros and Josh and Adriana. We made it to Beardsley Boulder Pile for an afternoon climb and then met up with the McDaniels for dinner at Carolina's. Near 50 miles and Selah didn't have one accident. And I don't mean the vehicular kind.

Selah and Milly